MSBA Makes $11.8 Million Payment to Whitman-Hanson Regional School District

July 29, 2010

This payment will save Hanson taxpayers over $3 million in avoided interest cost.

BOSTON, MA - Katherine Craven, MSBA Executive Director, today presented an $11,898,567 check to the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District to assist in retiring 100% of the district’s remaining debt from school building projects at Hanson Middle School and the Indian Head Elementary School. This payment replaces ten annual payments that the MSBA would have made to the district over the next ten years. By retiring this debt, the Town of Hanson avoided interest costs of approximately $3 million dollars.

“These are tough economic times, but because the MSBA has always exerted fiscal restraint, we are able to help the district by making this payment that will allow the school district to pay off its remaining debt from the Hanson Middle School and Indian Head Elementary School projects,” said Treasurer Tim Cahill, Chairman of the MSBA. “A significant portion of the savings will benefit Hanson taxpayers.”

“The MSBA’s flexibility to make these types of debt relief payments is a significant benefit to cities, towns and regional school districts,” said Katherine Craven, Executive Director of the MSBA.

The MSBA is collaborating with municipalities to equitably invest $2.5 billion in schools across the Commonwealth by finding the right-sized, most fiscally responsible and educationally appropriate solutions to create safe and sound learning environments. The MSBA is committed to protecting the taxpayer’s dollar by improving the school building grant process and avoiding the mistakes of the past in the funding and construction of school facilities. The MSBA has reformed the Commonwealth’s which had accumulated $11 billion in debt. formerly rampant and unsustainable program,

To date, the MSBA has made approximately $7.1 billion in reimbursements to cities, towns and regional school districts for school construction projects. These timely payments have saved municipalities over $2.9 billion in avoided local interest costs and have provided much needed cash flow to municipalities in these difficult economic times.